YEAR 2000 ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY PLANS  

Projected Initiation & Completion Dates: Plans will be complete beginning in May 2000 and eventually will serve as model plans for other communities across the state.  Through new DEM policies and program activities, it is expected that over 50 communities will join the HMPI initiative before the end of the year 2000 and begin development of their own hazard mitigation plans.

Contacts:

Darrin Punchard, Mitigation Planning Branch Manager,
(919)715-9195
dpunchard@ncem.org

Actions Necessary for Implementation: Following Hurricane Fran in 1996, the Division of Emergency Management (DEM) launched the ground-breaking Hazard Mitigation Planning Initiative (HMPI) in order to assist North Carolina communities become more resistant to natural disasters.  This initiative began with the designation of 11 “Demonstration Communities” that were each charged with developing exemplary hazard mitigation plans in coordination with DEM and its partners located within other state agencies and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Local Governments are now required to adopt HMPI plans for their communities in order to be eligible for Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding.

Anticipated Environmental Sustainability Benefits: By developing and implementing hazard mitigation plans, communities have the ability to ensure that today’s decisions and tomorrow’s development practices do not put the lives, homes, and businesses within their communities at risk to natural disaster.  More importantly, however, communities have the opportunity to achieve multiple goals that go well beyond simply reducing vulnerability.  Hazard mitigation plans can help to establish firm connections between disaster prevention and sustainable development, that is, development which improves the overall quality of life and makes the community a more desirable place to live, work and play. For example, limiting infrastructure and development within an identified flood-prone area will not only reduce the potential for future disasters but also allow for the preservation of a natural environment and its given ecological function. A community interested in expanding outdoor recreational opportunities for its residents may also determine that open space parks or greenway corridors are appropriate alternative uses for such areas.  Through participation in the HMPI initiative, communities will undergo these types of considerations and be asked to develop strategies that will ensure the long-term safety and sustainability of their environment.